Pneumatic tongs.



, Patented ont. 3|, |399;` A. A iLANDON.

PNEUMATIC TONGS.

(Application `filer). June 19, 1899.)

(No Model.)

A -..Hm f p51: G. 5 l cll im www l@ we /v\\ Ml.. if

NrTED STATES PATnNr rino.

A ARCHER LANDON, OF KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO THE KALAMAZOO SPRING AND AXLE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

PNEUMATIC TONGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,223, dated October 31, 1899.

Application filed J' une 19,1899. Serial No. 721.140. (No model.)

.To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A ARCHER LANDON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kalamazoo, in the county of Kalamazoo and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Tongs, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

ro My invention relates to pneumatic handtools, and is especially designed as a pinching tool or tongs to be Vemployed in the forming of leaf-springs.

In the manufacture of leaf-springs it is essential that suchleaf should exactly conform to the shape of the adjacent leaves, and to secure this result it is a common practice to form the leaves by successively bending each over the next adjacent one as a form. This zo operation is generally performed by first placing the lowest leaf or member of the spring on .a suitable central support, next placing the heated bar for the second leaf above this lowest member, and then pinching down said heated bar by hand-tongs.

It is the object of my invention to provide a tool better adapted for this Work than the tool ordinarily employed; and to this end my invention consists, rst, in the peculiar con- 3o struction of a pneumatic or fluid-motor pinching-tool, and, further, in the means employed for shifting said tool laterally upon the work, all as more fully hereinafter described and claimed. v

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of my tool, showing the manner of engaging it with the work. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modified construction. Figs.

4o 4 and 5 are diagram views illustrating thel manner of formingaspring-leaf with my tool.

My tool comprises a suitable frame provided with a handle or handhold which the workman can grasp, pinching-jaws secured to said frame, a fluid-motor for moving one of said jaws against the other, a flexible connection through which the fluid is conveyed to the motor from a source of supply, and a controlling-valve.

5o In Fig. 3 I showa construction in WhichA is the frame provided with a handle B. C is a fixed jaw secured to the frame, and D is a movable jaw slidingly secured thereto. E is a cylinder mounted on the frame opposite the xed jaw. F is the piston having a pistonrod G, which is secured on its free end to the movable jaw D. H is a valve controlling the supplj7 and exhaust ports of the cylinder. I is an operating-lever therefor, which extends down the handle B, where it can easily be 6o operated by the workman, and J is the iiexible connection for the motor fluid, preferably compressed air.

In the use of this tool the workman engages it with the work, which, as shown in Figs., 4 65 and 5 of the drawings, consists of the previously-formed leaf or form a, with the heated bar for the second leaf superimposed thereon, the two parts being held in position by a pin c, passing through central apertures in 7o each, or in any other manner. The workman i then presses the lever I, which operates the valve to admit air into the cylinder. This pushes the piston forward and causes the movable jaw to pinch the work against the fixed jaw. The pressure on the lever is then released, which allows a spring L to reverse the valve, cutting O the supply-pQrt and opening the exhaust, upon which the spring L retracts the piston and movable jaw D. 8o The tool may then be slipped along to a new position on the work and operated again in the same manner, and so on until the heated bar is perfectly conformed to the shape of the lower leaf. l

In order to further increase the ease of operation of my tool, I have devised the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawi ings, in'which in place of the square jaws shown in Fig. 3 I employ rollers, one of which 9o is provided with a crank or other means for rotating it. More in detail, this construction preferably comprises the bifurcated frame A', the opposite sides of which are slotted, as at A2. M is ashaft journaled in a bearing N at the end of the piston-rod and engaging with the slots A2, one end of said shaft passing out through the slot and being provided with a crank-handle O. P are rolls mounted upon this shaft on opposite sides of the bearing N. loo

Q are small rolls journaled upon pins near the outer ends of the bifurcations and forming the iixed jaw, the movable jaw being formed by the rolls P. The space between the rolls Q on the opposite sides of the frame is sufficient to admit of engaging the tool with the work when turned sidewise, as shown in Fig. l. The tool is preferably provided on one side willi a handle R and with a lever S, pivoted thereto, which has a suitable connection with the valve T, controlling the supply and exhaust of themotor fluid. lVith this construction (after the tool has been engaged with the work and the valve operated to admit air to the cylinder) the rolls P will be pressed down upon the work, after which the crank O may be turned, which will cause the tool to travel along the work without the necessity of relieving the air-pressure and will pinch the heated bar down upon the form. Thus the work may be performed much more expeditiously with this construction than With the tool shown in Fig. 3.

lVhile I have shown and described a preferable construction of mechanism for causing the tool to travel along the work, other means may be employed for this purpose without departing from the spirit of my invention, or all operating mechanism may be dispensed with and the tool moved along by hand.

That I claim as my invention is- 1. Ahaud pinching-toolcomprisingaframe provided with a handle or handhold, complementary pinching-jaws secured thereto, one of said jaws being mounted for free reciprocatory movement in relation to its complementary jaw, auid-motor constructed to act continuously upon and control the movement of the reciprocating jaw during the half of its complete reciprocation in which itis traveling in the direction of the complementary jaw, and a fluid-supply conduit for the motor.

2. A hand pinchingtool comprising: a frame provided with a handle or handhold, rotary pinching-jaws secured thereto, a iluidmotor for pressing one jaw against the other, a flexible connection through which the fluid is supplied to the motor, and means for rotating one of said jaws to cause the tool to travel along the work.

3. A hand pinching-tool comprising a frame provided with a handle or handhold, a roll journaled on ixed bearings, a coperating roll journaled on movable bearings on said frame, a piston-motor connected to the roll journaled on movable bearings and adapted to press it against said iiXed roll, a crankhandle secured to the movable roll, a flexible connection for supplying fluid to the motor, and a controlling-valve.

4. A hand pinching-tool comprising: a bifurcated frame, a piston-motor at the buttend thereof having its piston-rod projecting between the sides of the frame, a roll journaled in a bearing at the end of said pistonrod having its axle projecting through a slot in one side of the frame, acrank-handle connected to said axle, and rolls journaled at the outer end of the frame projecting inwardly from opposit-e sides with a spacebetween substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. Ahandpinching-tool comprisingaframe provided with a handle or handhold, complementary pinching-jaws secured thereto, a fluid-motor adapted to move one of the jaws into clamping relation with the other, said motor controlling the movement of the opl erated jaw during the travel of the latter in the direction of the complementary jaw, means for automatically returning the operated jaw to its initial position after the clamping has been effected, and a fluid-supply conduit for the motor.

6. Ahandpinching-toolcomprisingaframe, pinching-jaws thereon, having antifriction devices adapted to bear upon the work, a fluidmotor for pressing one jaw against the other, and means forfeeding the tube laterally along the work while said jaws are under pressure.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

A ARCI-IER LANDON.

Witnesses:

L. N. BURKE, D. ELDRED Woon. 

